simplicity love: The Rabbit Hole, Gaasbeek, Belgium

An old farm house located on a unique site in Gaasbeek, Belgium, close to its famous castle, has been converted into a contemporary residential building by LENS°ASS-architecten.

Photo © Philippe van Gelooven

The original structure of five buildings has been adapted to modern housing requirements without destroying its rural character. Brick, material of the original farmhouse, gives unity from floors to walls and roofs. “Brick is used here not only as a construction material, but also as a concept reinforcing the existing structure. It is the binding element between the past and the present.” Bart Lens

The building won the international Wienerberger Brick Award 2012 for "single-family house". Launched in 2004 the biennial Wienerberger Brick Award recognises innovative and creative brick buildings of international quality and their architects.

Photos © Philippe van Gelooven | Bieke Claessens | Andri Haflidason

photo © Bieke Claessens

Photo © Philippe van Gelooven

photo © Bieke Claessens

Photo © Philippe van Gelooven

Description by LENS°ASS-architecten:

HOUSE DM
A farm in the sloping Pajottenland landscape becomes a private family home and veterinary practice. A masoned brick shaft that connects the practise, the private home and the garden brings order to a cluster of existing buildings. The shaft was nicknamed ‘the rabbit hole’. It leads to an inside yard, which is also finished in brickwork. From the higher location of the castle of Gaasbeek, the brick roofing of the rabbit hole can easily be spotted. Just like the castle, it has become a visually strong and culturally defining element in the landscape.
Once inside the house, other unexpected surprises await the visitor’s eye. Even the smallest of windows frames the age-old landscape with its seventeenth-century castle.
Architecture and surroundings are splendidly interlaced. The effect is so natural that it seems to have been shaped by nature and history alone.